Sunday 11 August 2019

Facts You Should Know Before You Sign Up For An H2A Program

By Shirley Thompson


H-2A programs offer a convenient way for agricultural farms to legally obtain reliable and adequate workers. Foreign workers can apply for visas and get contracted on a temporary basis to provide the labor that the farms require. Irrespective of whether you are a foreigner in need of employment in the U. S. Or you are a prospective employer, there are important facts you need to know about the H2A program.

There are numerous key benefits of getting an H-2A visa instead of trying to get into the country illegally. In any case, illegal immigrants cannot get legal employment because their legal status cannot be changed. If you decide to exit the country, you face the risk of being banned from returning for the next three to ten years. This means than entering the country illegally will only deprive you of dignified work opportunities.

The program enables employers within the agricultural sectors to get the much needed assistance from foreign workers. These workers are only allowed to be in the country temporarily in order to fill in the gap in case of a temporary or seasonal shortage of employees. Before a farm can be allowed to recruit, it must first demonstrate that the needed assistance cannot be sourced locally. This makes it crucial to advertise for available positions as per the specified standards.

Employers must continually cooperate with the State Workforce Agency. This is meant to ensure that jobs are first offered to qualified U. S. Citizens who are interested and unemployed. Whether you are the employer or foreign worker in search of employment, you also need to get well acquainted with the rules regarding wages.

Foreign employees are paid as per the Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR). This is commonly known as the prevailing wage rate in the state and the income you will get may depend highly on the position you take up within the farm. Employers on the other hand need to ascertain that H-2A programs do not have a great impact on the income of domestic employees.

For the program to work, employers are obligated to provide housing. Again, there are certain standards that must be met in order to ensure that the foreign workers lead dignified lives. Housing issues are inspected by the state Department of Health or the state Department of Labor and this will highly depend on the number of workers that need housing.

It is also expected of employers to provide meals. In case this is not possible, the foreign workers need to be offered a cooking facility where they can get their meals prepared. Apart from providing free housing, prospective employers also need to foot the relevant transportation costs and provide a work guarantee for not less than 75% of the period stated in the contract.

Even though H2A programs are beneficial, they are also fairly complex. Most farms find it better to get help from experts who understand how things work in detail. Seeking assistance from an ideal organization will ensure that you only start the process if you are a qualified beneficiary of the program. The professionals will offer help with both the paperwork and the applications involved.




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